The city of Superior is bracing for the fallout of a $5.4 billion state budget shortfall.
While the governor and legislature haven't begun to address the state's largest deficit, city officials are notifying city workers that vacated positions won't be filled. However, the letter continues, that doesn't guarantee the city won't lay off employees if the impact to shared revenue is more significant than city officials expect.
"First of all, I believe the state is going to have a very difficult time keeping its full obligation to shared revenue," said Mayor Dave Ross. "... We want to try to anticipate that without having disruptions to our workforce in the city of Superior. So what we thought we would do is start to make a very small down payment on the reduction of our workforce."
Ross said the city set a near-term goal to reduce the workforce by six positions in 2009.
"We believe we can take these six positions through attrition," Ross said. "Now this is a more orderly way to reduce our workforce rather than to find out when the state budget is settled and we have a reduction in shared revenue, we're talking layoffs or a reduction of work hours."
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City labor contracts do not allow the city to reduce work hours.
Ross said it would be unfair to lay employees off and disrupt lives when the city can reduce the workforce through retirements that create the opportunity to eliminate positions.
This is not the only action the city is planning to take to reduce costs.
"There will be a number of other cuts we will have to make in order to meet a reduction in shared revenue for the city of Superior," Ross said. "So, it's not just the work force that we're targeting."
Ross said city officials will revisit all aspects of the city budget and every city department is on the table for potential cuts.
